Is your art really that bad?

Picture it, you’re in the ‘creative’ zone, pulling together your masterpiece; pouring your soul into your art… you take a step back, look/listen to it and think, ‘that’s rubbish!’

It is easy to throw away what you’ve done because you don’t think it is good enough. Perhaps it isn’t the best that could be done, perhaps it does need some more work, perhaps it isn’t great. But it is something that you have created.

At these times, why not use the quote from John Cage to question whether it really is rubbish.

The first question I ask myself when something doesn’t seem to be beautiful is why do I think it’s not beautiful. And very shortly you discover that there is no reason.John Cage

The seven deadly sins of creativity

There are seven deadly sins. These sins are mortal sins. They will destroy you and condemn your soul, requiring a new outpouring of grace and reconciliation. At least according to Catholic teaching, give or take several thousand words.

These same seven deadly sins can also condemn and destroy your creativity. If you want to reach your creative potential, you need to stay clear of these sins, because, as they are rightly called, they are deadly.

Envy

If we envy the work of others, we condemn our own. Comparing our creativity, our art, to others often leads us feeling inferior. By all means be inspired by the amazing work of others, but let it lead you to create your own unique work. Beware the trap of envy, be inspired but be different. There is no need to compare your work to the work of others. You are you, creating your own masterpieces.

Sloth

Laziness will lead to incomplete and unrealised creative dreams. Sloth isn’t about struggle, about being stuck with a creative decision and being unable to proceed. It is about not bothering. If you want to write, write. If you want to paint, paint. If you can’t be bothered, you will reap exactly what you sow.

Gluttony

Our physical selves need to be looked after. If we eat, drink or do almost anything in excess, we’ll not be able to focus on our art. If we are making ourselves unhealthy then we need to change that. Look after your mind and body as much as you can.

Gluttony is also a problem if we gorge on other people’s work, copying instead of being inspired. We can become obese with their ideas to the detriment of our own. Their work becomes the starting point for our own and we are in danger of never moving beyond that. Don’t end up making a forgery, but forge ahead with your own creativity.

Lust

Desire takes our eyes off what is needed and lingering on what is wanted. Don’t fall into lust’s snare, wanting the best or latest tools, software or materials. Make sure you can see the difference between what you need and what you want. Creativity often shines brightest when your resources are limited. If we are always desiring and chasing after the next best thing, we won’t be creating in the here and now. Don’t be a slave to lust, always believing there is something better you can have and that you won’t be able to create until you have it.

Pride

Pride is insidious. We should be confident of our own work. We have talents and abilities. Having conquered the sin of envy, beware the sin of pride.

We should have a certain pride in what we create. We may even display an air of arrogance because of our talents. However, we are not perfect. The sin of pride is the belief that our art is, or more accurately, that we are. If we think our art is perfect we will no longer grow and improve as an art creator. Without growth, our ideas and our creations will stagnate. The world will move on and we will be left worshipping our own creation, our own image in the mirror.

Wrath

Wrath isn’t about just being upset with our work, or even our lack of work if we are stuck. Wrath is about anger. Wrath is when we are so distraught that we destroy things.

There is nothing wrong with crossing out, covering with white gesso or hitting the delete key. We will make mistakes. We will need to correct them. We will learn and make better art this way. If we let wrath control us, we won’t learn. We won’t improve. We will be too angry to listen to theories or our inner muse.

You may get angry at times, that is part of being a human, and also part of being creative. If you let wrath take hold, you will stay angry. Wrath destroys. We should create.

Greed

We saw above how wanting leads to lust. Wanting to create for the wrong reasons is also dangerous. Wanting more money, being greedy in our desire to make it, and seeing money as the ultimate goal, will destroy our creativity. When we create for money, we don’t create our best. When money is the goal or the reason, we have sold out.

There is nothing wrong with making money from our art, we all need to survive. But don’t let greed for money be the driving force when you create. The greed and lure of money will destroy your inspiration and your soul. If you are not creating what your muse is prompting but what your desire for money is demanding, the muse will leave. If the muse isn’t wanted she will depart. Once the muse goes, it is very difficult to ask her to return.

A Prayer for the artists

We thank the universe for the artists,
the masters of form and colour and sound,
who have power to unlock for us
the vaster spaces of emotion
and to lead us by their hand
into the reaches of nobler passions.
We rejoice in their gifts
and desire to keep them distant
from the temptations which beset their powers.
Save them from the discouragements of a selfish ambition
and from the vanity that feeds on cheap applause,
from the snare of the senses
and from the dark phantoms that haunt the listening soul

How often do you take the time to really look at, listen to, or understand a good piece of creative work? We can find so much inspiration from the creativity of others, but it is rare that we actually delve into why the ‘piece’ is creative. More importantly, how can their art help us in our creative journey? Here are some thoughts to bear in mind to aid us when we do decide to look a little deeper.

What makes this piece original?

Has the piece mixed two different genres, has it pushed the boundaries further than the traditional medium? Try and ask yourself these and similar questions and discover where, why and how creativity has been used.

What has the creative put in?

Moving on from the first question, look for what has been added to the piece that makes it different. These are the constituent parts of the piece. You’ve looked at the whole, now look at the pieces.

What has the creative left out?

Space is equally important, less is more, so they say, and it is the same in art, in all its forms. The pieces that the creative has left out are as important as what the creative put in.

How would your creativity express the idea?

This isn’t about how you would improve what has been done, but it could easily end up that way. What you need to do here is take the end result (what the ‘piece’ says to you) and think about how you would have expressed that.

What would this look like in another medium?

The book is always different from the film. The play is always different from the film. The live performance is always different from the recorded version. What if you were to think about what you were analysing in a different medium. What would that image look like as a piece of prose? What would that story sound like as a song?

Give your creative energy a boost by taking note of what other creative pieces there are surrounding us every day.